The Green Party announced today that Peter Kavanagh, who will be awarded Gradam Ghlór na nGael for his efforts to promote the Irish Language In a ceremony next month, will be appointed as the party’s Irish Language spokesperson. Kavanagh (33) was announced last December as the party’s general election candidate in Dublin Mid West. He is a co-founder of the popular community project “Pop Up Gaeltacht” and a volunteer broadcaster with Raidió na Life, as well as a member of the board of Muintir Chrónáin, an organisation that promotes the Irish Language in his hometown of Clondalkin.

“It is a massive honour to be named Irish Language Spokesperson for the Green Party,” Kavanagh said, “The party’s progressive and robust Irish language policy, along with the way the party has always placed great importance on the language, were among the reasons for my joining the Greens in the first place. Irish is under great pressure, as ever, and the Gaeltacht has reached a crisis point, as we can see from census results and the lack of investment in Gaeltacht areas.

“It is time for Irish language communities, and we are talking about distinct and disparate language communities, to stand up and demand their rights when it comes to education through Irish, appropriate investment in Gaeltacht infrastructure and equal rights in communications with the State. To us in the Green Party, language rights are human rights, and we are, and will continue to be the party that most supports the rights of Irish speakers to plough their own furrow in life, through whichever official language of the State they desire.”

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan TD said he was very happy to name Kavanagh as Irish Language Spokesperson. “The Irish language is central to Irish identity as our national language, and we have a very good advocate for the language in Peter Kavanagh. He has proven his creativity as co-founder of Pop Up Gaeltacht and we hope he can bring the same enthusiasm and creativity to bear while presenting our progressive approach to the Irish Language.”